Brendan Smith was drafted at the tender age of 18 just as he was about to enroll in his first classes at the University of Wisconsin. Smith was finishing his Junior Hockey career St. Michaels where he had 62 points in 78 games played…as a defenseman. He was Detroit’s first selection (27th overall). After losing in 6 games to Ducks…getting a big, bad D-man seemed like a pretty good idea.

Smith’s offensive prowess continued as he played for Patrick Eaves’ dad on the UW Badgers. That’s when the buzz really started to grow around this kid from Toronto.

Yes…he’s from Toronto…think he’s getting excited for New Year’s Day?

I don’t watch a lot of college hockey…not because I don’t like it – I think it’s the greatest secret in ALL of sports. But I did get a chance to watch Smith in action while he was still in college. He looked like a man amongst boys…even though 6’1 and 200 lbs isn’t monstrous – Smith looked and played like one all throughout college.

Will that trend continue in the pros? It certainly seems like it.

Make the jump and see the goods on “Agent” Smith.

A Matrix reference? Why not? The first one was good.

But anyway…let’s get to the action:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=

ew3ldgq2Hfk[/youtube]

Did you see the Dez Howard Heisman pose? That’s right…our boy’s got some flash to go with that shot. That was a pre-planned slap in the face to the University of Michigan…and you know what? I dig it. In addition to the 52 points that Agent Smith acquired (per the end of the video), he also amassed 11 goals and 35 points in his previous two seasons prior to his Hobey Baker Finalist Junior year for a grand total of 26 goals and 87 points (again – as a defenseman) in 95 games played at Wisconsin.

And then on to Grand Rapids for the 2010-2011 season. Not many goal videos to show from Smith’s time in Grand Rapids – but here’s one from his rookie season (the first few seconds anyway):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=

73V_LtFcAbk[/youtube]

You’ll notice that Agent Smith isn’t afraid to crash the net…more on that in a little bit.

Something else you may notice about Smith is that he likes to play the game with a little snarl. And even as a rookie in the AHL…he was going to play his game…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=

xX2sqbZlSp0[/youtube]

Smith finished his rookie season with Griffins with an impressive 12 goals, 32 points, and 124 PIMs in 63 games played. He followed that up with even more impressive stats (10 goals, 34 points) in only 57 games. But not before he did THIS in the pre-season…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=

3P2wTEidNEE[/youtube]

Nevermind the stupid whiny Chicago announce team – that was a BS ejection and a BS suspension. It would have been better for Agent Smith to purposefully smash the Blackhawk’s head into the glass repeatedly.

So we’re getting a sense for the snarl. Smith would later answer for that hit on Smith. But two days prior he notched his first NHL goal…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=

uESM2ua1X7w[/youtube]

Crashing the net just like we saw in Grand Rapids. Smith played in 14 games for the big club and managed 0.5 points per game with that goal you just watched and six assists. Five of the 13 penalty minutes he received came from this little scrap:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=

UfehYp24rSs[/youtube]

I remember being very excited when I watched that. Not just because a Blackhawk got tuned up…but because it was our young stud who was doing it.

Agent Smith didn’t see play-off action this year…but you can bet your sweet bippy that he’ll being seeing A LOT of NHL Play-offs wearing the Winged Wheel over the next two decades…should he choose to go the Lidstrom route.